Gyanesh Kumar faces Supreme Court plea for criminal prosecution

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking the criminal prosecution of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar for alleged violations of statutory duties during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The plea, filed by advocate Shailendra Mani Tripathi, alleges that Kumar undertook decisions, guidelines, and software modifications without the required concurrence of the other two Election Commissioners.

The petitioner seeks a declaration that these actions are unconstitutional and void, and has requested a Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiry into the alleged deletion of approximately 13 crore voters from the electoral rolls. The petition specifically calls for prosecution under Section 32 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, against Kumar, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg, and IT Director General Seema Khanna.

The legal action follows reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had recorded objections on at least 14 occasions regarding SIR-related decisions, including changes to Form 6 and the management of electoral-roll data. The petition claims these decisions were often made without the knowledge or against the recommendations of the other commissioners.